So
we're looking for an all flash array to upgrade our current storage
(EMC VNXe)
After endless meetings the options narrowed to the two mentioned above.
We have 4 ESXi hosts and 2 physical MariaDB servers using FC, in terms
of migration to another storage vendor, there's no hard work for us to
do besides vMotion and database replication.
Both arrays have pretty much identical specs and can deliver up to 150K
IOPS (100% 8KB random reads).
How would you choose one over the other?
Anyone have experience with one of the arrays mentioned or another
Unity/AFF array?

You're already somewhat used to Unisphere (although the VNXe Unisphere isn't quite the same), and you're used to dealing with EMC support. Unless you've had issues in the past that make you see red with EMC, I'd stick with them, and hope that Dell doesn't mess them up like they've done with so many past acquisitions.

It seems to me that NetApp FAS has about zero competitive advantage in the marketplace for block storage or virtualized workloads. Okay, maybe data services in the cloud, but not their hardware. SolidFire does have unique capabilities, but that's aimed at service providers.

Have you looked at Nimble Storage? Are you looking to have concurrent FC and Ethernet personalities? That's about the only reason why I would exclude Nimble Storage. There are many reasons why Nimble was the only company started in the last 20 years in Gartner's leader's quadrant for general purpose storage. They're part of HPE now, but I have heard of 1 person have an issue with Nimble, and hundreds of very happy customers.

Have you looked at Nimble Storage? Are you looking to have concurrent FC and Ethernet personalities? That's about the only reason why I would exclude Nimble Storage. There are many reasons why Nimble was the only company started in the last 20 years in Gartner's leader's quadrant for general purpose storage. They're part of HPE now, but I have heard of 1 person have an issue with Nimble, and hundreds of very happy customers.

We use Netapp for block occasionally and for VMware with nfs frequently. It works well. I don't like the VNX because of support issues I've had with them in the past, but recently they seem to be doing better.
Between these options, I'd just make both vendors provide a total cost, hw+sw+maint for 5 or whatever years, and pick the cheapest.

We are also keeping our eye on the storage devices. We currently have 4 HP LeftHand Storage arrays. They suck!

I am wondering if you looked at the StorTrends products at all? We are leaning towards these devices for our next storage device. I like their in-line dedup, speed, and price. Looking for an opinion on them.

I would have looked at Nibble until they were under the HPE umbrella. HP, the great printer company, has turned into the vulture capitalist suck zone where things go to die. I've been working with Compaq/HP enterprise equipment since 1994 and have never had a good experience.

1st Post

I would have looked at Nibble until they were under the HPE umbrella. HP, the great printer company, has turned into the vulture capitalist suck zone where things go to die. I've been working with Compaq/HP enterprise equipment since 1994 and have never had a good experience.

HP and HPE are different companies. It's weird to me you would have considered a company losing 100 million dollars a year and running out of cash, but are NOT cool with a company who's the only major vendor growing market share in traditional arrays. Investing in a startup that's about to bleed dry is risky...

chadwiese2 wrote:

Both are decent units, It is going to come down to personal preference. I personally prefer Tegile.

speaking of startups running out of cash... They've had one layoff round already and with the IPO market looking weak I'm curious how much longer they can burn cash selling ZFS and OpenSolaris.

This thread is rather surprising. OP clearly explained that they have narrowed down their choice to 2 options and asked opinions on each one. And yet, everyone is suggesting "Have you tried Z?", which is highly reminiscent of "Why not Zoidberg?". I could also start stating personal opinions and saying that I think StarWind and Nimble are a great fit, but this doesn't really help OP.

*Rant mode off*

Both are fantastic products and it all comes down to who can make the best offer and personal preference and which management interface you like best. Best of luck!

This thread is rather surprising. OP clearly explained that they have narrowed down their choice to 2 options and asked opinions on each one. And yet, everyone is suggesting "Have you tried Z?", which is highly reminiscent of "Why not Zoidberg?". I could also start stating personal opinions and saying that I think StarWind and Nimble are a great fit, but this doesn't really help OP.

*Rant mode off*

Both are fantastic products and it all comes down to who can make the best offer and personal preference and which management interface you like best. Best of luck!

The Unity, I was disappointed with it, it's still a monolithic style, and has performance puddles.

Also consider vvols especially if you are running databases

The AFF VVOL implementation needs a bit of work (I have heard that FAS is doing a re-write though). Unity's integrated HA VASA makes it nicer (although it does have a lowermax object count so watch out for that).

AFF has inline data reduction Unity has (Compression? Maybe?)

Do you need NAS services from a HA filer? For Block FC use cases I'd use neither platform honestly. They are the worst platforms to run block on from their respective vendors.

The Unity, I was disappointed with it, it's still a monolithic style, and has performance puddles.

Also consider vvols especially if you are running databases

The AFF VVOL implementation needs a bit of work (I have heard that FAS is doing a re-write though). Unity's integrated HA VASA makes it nicer (although it does have a lowermax object count so watch out for that).

AFF has inline data reduction Unity has (Compression? Maybe?)

Do you need NAS services from a HA filer? For Block FC use cases I'd use neither platform honestly. They are the worst platforms to run block on from their respective vendors.

FAS imho and by extension R-DP is fundamentally flawed, trying to fix it is akin to polishing a turd.

The Unity, I was disappointed with it, it's still a monolithic style, and has performance puddles.

Also consider vvols especially if you are running databases

The AFF VVOL implementation needs a bit of work (I have heard that FAS is doing a re-write though). Unity's integrated HA VASA makes it nicer (although it does have a lowermax object count so watch out for that).

AFF has inline data reduction Unity has (Compression? Maybe?)

Do you need NAS services from a HA filer? For Block FC use cases I'd use neither platform honestly. They are the worst platforms to run block on from their respective vendors.

FAS imho and by extension R-DP is fundamentally flawed, trying to fix it is akin to polishing a turd.

You can take a look at this chart to see how people who have used EMC Unity and NetApp AFF have compared them. This might help you find the information that you need.

And if you're interested in looking into other storage solutions, users on our site (IT Central Station) who have read reviews for EMC and NetApp also read reviews for Flexpod's converged system, which you can read about here.